I must not despise pleasure as if it were an evil in itself. But I must be sure I follow pleasure as the Bible defines it, not as the world defines it. Pleasure, to the world,is amusement, entertainment. It can run the gamut from a Beethoven concerto to a pornographic display. Biblical pleasure, on the other hand, is the satisfaction of contributing to someone’s growth.
Jesus Christ experienced pleasure. “For the joy set before Him [He] endured the cross” (Hebrews 12:2) Jesus’ pleasure was not the result of something done to or for Him. but something done to or for others. Amusement is self-destructive because it ends in itself, it has no future. But godly pleasure is eternal because the good it creates runs on endlessly, like the ripples of a pond when a pebble is tossed in. Amusement dulls the harsh realities of life temporarily, but pleasure keeps a person in tune continually.
The key to Bible pleasure is that “Christ did not please Himself” (Romans 15:1–3). Yet, in the wonderful formula of God, Christ’s passion to please others resulted in seeing “the travail of his soul” and being “satisfied” (Isaiah 53:11, KJV). If I seek a self-ministry, trying to satisfy myself first and foremost, I will eventually wither. To continue “having devotions” and “keeping myself in tune with God” just for my own sake is running the risk of failure. But to keep myself strong in my relationship to God for the sake of others is the only way to keep myself continually strong in Him. Even the most dedicated Christians can wind up as castaways if they forget that ministering to others is the only sure way to minister to themselves. I please my heavenly Father when He sees in me the same quality of self-sacrifice He saw in Jesus, which enabled Him to say, “This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well-pleased” (Matthew 3:17).
“And He died for all, that they who live should no longer live for themselves, but for Him who died and rose again on their behalf” (2 Corinthians 5:15).
Daily with the King 